Dale Earnhardt Jr says he believes NASCAR made the wrong call by penalizing Ryan Preece following Sunday’s showdown with Cup Series rival Ty Gibbs.
The day ended early for Gibbs on Lap 101 of the Wurth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway, when he slid into the barrier with Preece in close proximity.
The incident came after Preece had earlier unleashed a spectacular radio tirade aimed at Gibbs. Even the 35-year-old RFK Racing star himself admitted it was a ‘rant’.
Preece had fumed: "Alright when I get to that 54 I'm done with him. F***ing idiot. That car is so f***ing fast, p***es me off. I’m gonna vent for 15 seconds. I can't stand when idiots like him have fast race cars where they can do stupid s*** and get away with it. End of rant."
Preece vs Gibbs happened during the same race where Kyle Busch wrecked John Hunter Nemecheck after also turning the airwaves blue with angry sound bites.
Despite the apparent similarities between the two incidents, NASCAR elected to fine Preece $50,000 and dock him 25 points, no action was taken against Busch. That to Dale Jr, was a beard scratcher.
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Dale Jr on Ryan Preece penalty
Speaking in a video on social media, he said: “Just seen the news about NASCAR penalizing Ryan Preece for what he did Sunday during the race. No penalty for Kyle Busch.
“We put out our video on our thoughts on that - I didn’t think either one would get penalized. But having not really read a ton into the Preece penalty I’m gonna say it was because he next to or all but admitted to what he was gonna do.
“I honestly don’t agree with this one, I really don’t. I think if you’re not gonna penalize Kyle, which I didn’t think they would, I don’t think you can penalize Preece.”
Not just about the radio 'rant'
Dale Jr claims even with Preece’s comments apparently counting against him, you could argue that Ryan was not at fault for Ty getting wrecked.
“If you watch the in-car, Preece - the 54 car drives across his nose. Even though we know what Preece said over the radio, and after the race, he could argue in that moment the 54 cut him off and ran down in front of him.
“Whether that’s true or not, doesn’t really matter. Just really really surprised by this decision. So anyhow, I guess I’ll see what everyone else thinks because this is a doozy this is quite an interesting turn of events. I didn’t see this one coming.”
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